No. 32. >> You said that Chapter 4 Verses 3 through 7 form the central focal point of the letter. Immediately following this moment in the epistle, Paul seems to be in deep distress again about the Galatians. What is the source of his concern this time? >>DR. ARTHUR A. JUST, JR.: This is such an astute question because there is a shift here. And it always surprises me I guess every time I read this letter or teach it that Paul is making this shift. And you know, the more I've studied it, though, the more I realize that this is the human Paul. This is the Paul who really -- you know he's just given the sublime theology, he's talked about who they are, their birth identity in Christ. And then all of a sudden reality comes back to him. That he's writing these people who have lost this sense of it. And he says -- and it's almost like: I can't believe this is happening. How could you be doing this? I think you've had a similar experience like this. You know, maybe think back on when you had a good friend or maybe an old girlfriend where you were just thinking about why you liked her or why you had this friendship. And then something happened to sour it. And you know you're thinking good thoughts at one point. And the beauty of what it is that God had given you in this friendship. And then all of a sudden how it had turned so terribly bad and why that had happened. Well, that's what Paul is doing here. And this is a section in which we see his deep distress. And I want to analyze it with you because I think you should follow along with me so you can see how this works. First of all, he's been talking about birth identity. And now he's going to talk about the disastrous developments in Galatia because of his opponents. And he is going to talk about this with a note of anxiety that is just dripping with pastoral concern. Verses 8 and 9 he describes the distress. You know, and it's very, very graphic language we're going to see. It's very -- very real. Then Verse 10 is the cause of the distress. Something that surprises us a little bit. But I think you'll see it. And then he goes back to saying in Verse 11, his distress. He starts with distress, cause of distress. And then he talks about the distress again. Then he has a request for them. This was very typical of a letter. Where they would have a request. In Verse 12. And again it's an interesting request. It's one you don't expect. Then in Verses 13 to 15, it's so hard for me to say what my favorite part is my favorite part is of this epistle. But this one is filled with such pathos. It's so personal. It's so tender. It is a remarkable moment for Paul. And I think you'll see, he recollects here how they received the Gospel in Galatia. The personal experience he had with them. And he appeals to it. It's a remarkable moment. And then Verses 16 and following he goes back to his distress now. Not over what has happened. But what might happen in the future. So this is Verses 8 to 20 a section in which Paul speaks about his distress. Now, let's look at the first three verses. And then we'll pick up on some other points here about the occasion for Paul coming to Galatians. But let's look at the distress first. He begins in Verse 8. And it's a then and now kind of situation. And here he's appealing to their life before as pagans. He says: But formerly not knowing God, you were enslaved to those things which by nature are not gods. Now, here he's saying. You know, before I came to Galatia, you were a bunch of pagan sinners. And you know what you did? You worshiped idols. You worshiped inanimate objects. Now, in light of the Gospel that I've preached to you, how dumb was that? And I mean I think they all would have stood around and said: That was pretty dumb. We were really dumb pagans back then. And it is an enslavement. I mean, imagine -- I'll tell you, I had the most extraordinary experience. I'm going to tell you it right here because I never had an experience like this before. Last December I was in India. And we were with the seminary there. And the head of the seminary is an expert on Hinduism. And he took us into a Hindu temple. We didn't get there until it was dark. It was about 6:00 o'clock. And it was dark out. And it was very warm and humid. Very hot. And we had to take our shoes off about a block before the temple. So we're walking through the streets in our stocking feet. And then when we got to the temple, we had to take our shirts off. So we go walking into this temple. I can't tell you how vulnerable you feel without shoes and without a shirt. And it was hot. And they were doing pilgrimages at that time. And there were all these men running around the temple in these short little kind of skirts. Bare chested. There was incense and smells. They were obviously cooking some foods. And there in the middle of this temple there's this monkey god, this bull god and all these -- it was really mostly men were throwing themselves on these gods. Idols. I mean, I couldn't help but think of this passage from Paul. And how enslaving that is. That there's nothing there. It was frightening. I felt the palpable presence of Satan in that temple. And we were with two women. One who was an Indian woman, a deaconess who works in our central office. And one was a student from St. Louis. And I was scared to death for them. The Indian woman not so much because she certainly blended in in India. But the American girl was a blond girl. And there were people following her. I have never been so unnerved in any place as I was there. And it's because it's the first time I faced directly and saw what idol worship is like. And it is -- it is from the devil. That's what they were enslaved to here in Galatia. That's what they are enslaved to in those Hindu temples in India. Paul tells us now in Verse 9 what that means. And he tells us this by showing us how it's different in Christ. Remember, he says: Formerly not knowing God you were enslaved to those things by nature which are not gods, idols. But now -- but now, knowing God -- and here he makes a move that I think is great -- rather being known by God. We can't know God. God knows us. Now there's the difference between a lot of theology. Lutheran theology says God knows us. Other theologies may say that we can know God. But Paul, I don't think he made a mistake and then corrected himself. I think he does it purposely to point out that we can't know God. Only God can know us. And in knowing us, then we can know who he is. Look at what Paul says: But now knowing God, rather being known by God, how can you turn -- this is a word for repentance -- turn again to those beggarly weak, beggarly poor, ***stoicaous spirits. Impotent is what we're saying. Impotent spirits. You know, spiritual things. To whom again once more you wish to be enslaved. Now, I'm not sure that you catch it. I didn't when I first read this. But what he's talking about here when he talks about the weak and worthless elemental principles of the world whose slaves you want to become, he's talking there about those cosmic powers. And I think he's talking specifically about the law and circumcision. If you were enslaved to idols before, why are you making the law and circumcision new idols? They are as enslaving. Because they are powers, elemental powers, that are absolutely opposed to the power of God. Now, this is very important. They can't grant life. And I think the way to see these things is to see them as impotent. Now, I think he's playing off the circumcision thing. And that if you're circumcised, that is a way of rendering yourself spiritually impotent. And I think I don't need to go farther with that illustration. I'll let your mind have its way with that. But I think that's exactly what he's doing. And then he says the cause of his distress, I think he's already referred to circumcision. But now he brings on more. He says in Verse 10: You observe days and months and seasons and years. They are venerating the cosmic elements. Now, as pagans they did it by worshiping the sun, the moon, the seasons, those kinds of things. Now under the influence of these Jewish opponents of Paul, they are worshiping it through the old Jewish calendar. Now, there's nothing wrong with their calendar. There's nothing wrong with their church year, so long as it's focused in Christ. But this calendar is not. It's the old Jewish calendar. And Paul is saying: Why do you want to go from one calendar that was enslaving to another calendar that's enslaving? You're simply talking about Gentile observance of the law, which is the equivalent of idol worship. You can imagine how this is going to be heard by Jewish opponents. They are going to be infuriated that Paul is comparing paganism with their Judaism. And then Paul goes back to his distress. And here is that language of fear again. He says: I am afraid for you continually. And I think this is one of the most extraordinary statements. Because Paul now describes himself in a sense as the one who gave birth to him. Which he was. He's like their mother. He says: I am afraid for you. Lest somehow I may have labored over you in vain. That I gave birth in a sense to stillborns. That I thought I was giving birth to those who are alive in Christ. But maybe I'm not. Now, that is a very, very powerful image. And one in which you can see Paul is speaking here pastorally, lovingly, and yet as -- think of yourself if you're a father. Or think of your own father. When a son or a daughter kind of rebels or goes away. Think of the distress you have. Think of the prodigal son. How that father stood there day after day after day waiting for that son to come home. And then once -- my favorite part of Luke's Gospel. One of my favorite passages in the whole New Testament. While he was still afar off, the father sees him, runs, has compassion on him. This is the distress Paul has. As one who has really kind of given birth to them as their father in the faith. And now they are abandoning him for things that enslave. They are going back to their old life for all intents and purposes. Yeah, they are not pagans anymore. But they are living under a law that they were not given to live under. In a moment you're going to see there's going to be a new shift here. Not dramatic. But Paul is now going to get very personal with them about the reason, the occasion, for his coming to Galatia.